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Computational study on the clamping mechanism in the injection molding machine

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Abstract

The clamping mechanism plays an important role in obtaining high-quality products of the injection molding process. The clamping mechanism of the five-point double-toggle has been widely used for the high-speed plastics injection molding machine. The purpose of this paper is to optimize the five-point double-toggle clamping mechanism through multi-body dynamics analysis. This work also provides guidelines and a clear understanding for designing the clamping system in an injection molding machine with various clamping forces. The theoretical calculation has been handled first and then the computational model has been verified in this study. In addition, the effects of clamping forces on the main dimensions, including movable-fixed plate thickness, tie-bar diameter, and average link cross-section have been investigated theoretically and numerically. The results show that the optimal design allows reaching a high force amplified ratio and that the obtained mechanism has good kinematic performance and works steadily with lower energy consumption and lower cost than the preliminary design. Moreover, the relationships between the parameters such as the critical angles of the double-toggle clamping mechanism, the ratio of force amplification, and the stroke of movable mold have been found in this work. The optimized parameters will yield useful knowledge to design and manufacture the clamping mechanism of the microinjection molding machine in practice.

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Abbreviations

(0):

Fixed mold plate

(1):

Link ACD

(2):

Link BC

(3):

Link DE

(4):

Crosshead of the piston

(5):

Movable mold plate jointed to the link BC

AC :

AC Length of link ACD

CD :

CD length of link ACD

IA :

The length of the part connecting the ACD link to the fixing plate

BC :

The length of the BC link

EG :

The half-length of the link crosshead

α 1 :

Crank angle (the angle between AC and horizontal axis at closing mold)

α 2 :

The angle between BC and horizontal axis at closing mold

α 3 :

The angle between CD and vertical axis at closing mold

β :

The angle between DE and vertical axis at closing mold

F c :

The force of the hydraulic cylinder

P :

The clamping force of the machine

F ijx :

The force induced from link i acting on link j with the horizontal direction

F ijy :

The force induced from link i acting on link j with the vertical direction

b :

The vertical distance between two supports IA

L :

The stroke of the movable mold plate

L 0 :

The stroke of the piston

L 2 :

The length of a toggle at closing mold

L 1 :

The length of a toggle at opening the mold

T 1 :

The force on link ACD with AC direction

T 3 :

The force on link ACD with CD direction

T 2 :

The force on the link BC

T 4 :

The force on the link DE

K :

The ratio of force amplification

K v :

The ratio of speed amplification (between the movable mold and crosshead)

Kv max :

The ratio of speed amplification at the local maximum

Kv min :

The ratio of speed amplification at the local minimum

Kd :

The ratio of stroke amplification (between the movable mold and crosshead)

Kd  optimal :

The ratio of stroke amplification of optimal design

Kd  preliminary :

The ratio of stroke amplification of preliminary design

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Funding

This work was supported by The University of Danang, University of Science and Technology, code number of the project: T2022-02–01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Danang, University of Science and Technology, Da Nang City, 550000, Vietnam

    Van-Duong Le, Van-Thanh Hoang, Quang-Bang Tao, Ngoc-Hai Tran & Duc-Binh Luu

  2. LISV, University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, University of Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Lahouari Benabou

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Daehak-ro 280, Gyeongsan, 38541, Republic of Korea

    Jang Min Park

Authors
  1. Van-Duong Le
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  2. Van-Thanh Hoang
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  5. Ngoc-Hai Tran
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  6. Duc-Binh Luu
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  7. Jang Min Park
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Contributions

Van-Duong Le performed the calculation and the simulation data and drafted the manuscript. Van-Thanh Hoang contributed to the design, implementation of the research, and to the writing of the manuscript. Quang-Bang Tao contributed to the analysis of the results and to writing of the manuscript. Lahouari Benabou contributed to the rewriting of the manuscript and aided in interpreting the results. Ngoc-Hai Tran and Duc-Binh Luu processed the numerical analysis data. Jang Min Park contributed to the reanalysis of the results and to the rewriting of the manuscript. Van-Duong Le and Van-Thanh Hoang contributed equally to this work. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Quang-Bang Tao or Jang Min Park.

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Le, VD., Hoang, VT., Tao, QB. et al. Computational study on the clamping mechanism in the injection molding machine. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 121, 7247–7261 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09817-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-022-09817-6

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